The seat of the chairman of the largest lender of the country, State Bank of India had fallen vacant after the superannuation of Mr O P Bhatt. The position has now been taken by Mr Pratip Chaudhuri , informed an official of the finance ministry.

"The requisite clearance from the Prime Minister's Office has been received," the official said. "The department of personnel and training will soon send the order to the finance ministry for notification."

Mr Bhatt had retired from his post on March 31, 2011 after spending five glorious years with the bank. During his tenor, SBI saw growth in leaps and bounds.

Mr Chaudhuri is presently working as managing director of SBI. The government had started the selection process three months back and still the appointment of the new head took so long. This has been a big reason for the government getting criticised.

"The delay was not on purpose and the interviews were held much ahead," the finance ministry official said.

He said that vigilance clearance of the contenders for the top slot took a lot of time.